Speaking in his stable tour in Monday's Racing Post, Henderson said: "After a lot of thought, discussion and – at times – a lot of indecision, we have decided to take the novice chase route. He is now six, rising seven and if we don't go chasing now, I suspect we might never. We schooled him once in the spring and he was excellent."

Buveur D'Air finished two places behind Altior in the Supreme before winning the Grade 1 Top Novices' Hurdle at Aintree's Grand National meeting.

He has subsequently been bought by JP McManus and will be joining Altior in the novice chase sphere.

Henderson said: "We wondered whether an extra half-mile might help but we stuck to two miles at Aintree and, although I couldn't say he won easily, it was still a great performance to win a Grade 1. I think there is much more to come over fences and he has an enormous future."